Places of Interest

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Lucarcia is an island continent. Historically home to two empires; the Lucarcian Empire and the Rainbow Empire before that; it recently became a Republic after the emperor died leaving no heir. This is a land still finding its way in the aftermath of the power struggle the old emperors death precipitated.

Most people do not distinguish between the continent and the republic of Lucarcia, and both are really the same thing.

Places of Interest

A desolate island, split from the rest of the continent five hundred years ago when the Writhing Death was wiped out. This island is uninhabitable, deserted (for the most part) and one of the most inhospitable places in the World of Rodinia.

Ibini is the north eastern most island of Lucarcia. Comprised mostly of thick jungle lands, only the far north is fertile and generally populated. Surprisingly the capital and home of the Verdant Queen lies in the southern portion of the island, deep within the hot, humid jungles.

The northern most island of Lucarcia, Manabas is split by a huge mountain range. Travel from one side of the island to the other is thus difficult. The island is home to many small communities nestled into the various valleys of the mountain range and dotted around the coastland. Probably the most famous of these is the independent city state of Dun Laren.

Political centre of the Empire of Lucarcia, Ursum lies along the southern edge of the continent. Home to the ruling house and two other major houses, it is a very political place to live. Much of the island is plains and rolling hills, yet much of it is still wilderness and travel around from one location to another is anything but safe.

The Azure City, Lucar, was constructed five hundred years ago. Emperor Lucar, the then head of the Rainbow Empire, ordered the destruction of the capital of Antissa in order to stop the Writhing Death. As the old capital was ripped apart and fell into the crashing seas, Emperor Lucar waited for the Sundering to settle. He found himself standing on a promontory overlooking the new Inner Sea and the old site of the capital Antissa, and ordered his new capital to be built there. Now Lucar is decaying and crumbling, like a miniature version of the empire that it was capital of. The future of the Azure City is somewhat in question now that the Empire of Lucarcia has collapsed and the new Republic has taken its place.

Antissa is the fabled capital city of the ancient Rainbow Empire. It was destroyed when the houses of Granita unleashed the Writhing Death upon the continent and the Emperor ordered the high mages to shatter the lands to contain the threat. Antissa was the epicenter of the quake the high mages created and it dropped into the earth, falling into a huge crater which was then engulfed by the seas in what is now the Lucarcian Straits.

History of Lucarcian Continent

one thousand years ago

A thousand years ago the Lucarcian Continent was one land mass. A powerful, technologically advanced civilization called the Rainbow Empire came to exist here. The Rainbow Empire comprised 7 houses, each with their own colour, animal token and branch of magic. The capital was the fabled city of Antissa, which sat at the heart of the continent. The Rainbow Empire was the most advanced civilization in the world, with technology and magical advancement which has never been seen before or since. Antissa was the most advanced city which the world has ever seen. The seven houses were strongly in competition with each other to see who could advance the furthest and make the greatest discoveries and inventions, but they were ruled with a strong hand by the emperor from the Azure House, based in Antissa.

five hundred years ago

Around five hundred years ago, the House of the Sun and the Magenta House, both situated in the south eastern corner of the continent in the region known as Granita, grew increasingly competitive. They were engaged in some very advanced research which pushed the boundaries of reality and something went wrong. No one knows precisely which house was at fault, but in their efforts someone opened a gate to the Void, unleashing a devastating blight upon the lands. This blight was a plague of crawling insects, billions upon billions of them which crept out of the gate and simply consumed everything in their path. Only the sea would stop them. The infestation, which is now known as the Writhing Death, quickly destroyed the lands the two houses occupied, eating everything and anything in it's path, whether animal or vegetable. The whole population was simply devoured alive.

As this Writhing Death slowly advanced its way towards the rest of the Rainbow Empire the emperor called an emergency meeting of the heads of all 5 remaining Houses. There they laid their plans against it. But nothing they tried could stop this Writhing Death and each day billions more insects were pouring out of the still open gate to the Void. Eventually it was realized that the only way to stop the Writhing Death devouring the whole continent was to bring together the might of the high magics of all five houses and shatter the lands. The high mages gathered in the citadel in Antissa and together worked the most powerful spells. Knowing that it would cost them and thousands of citizens of the Rainbow Empire their lives, the high mages shattered the lands causing a huge quake to strike the city of Antissa and the lands for miles around. The city subsided into the earth and the sea waters rushed into the gap left behind. And the effect split the continent, ripping it into four pieces, creating the Inner Sea and the Lucarcian Straits in the process. But the Writhing Death was stopped and the remainder of the empire saved.

A secondary group of high mages were sent to the location of the Gate itself, charged with closing it. They never returned, but the Gate appears to have been closed. A tidal wave crashed into the newly formed island of Granita and washed the Writhing Death into the sea. Perhaps the high mages who had gone to close the Gate perished in closing it, or perhaps they were washed away by the wave, either way the island itself was completely devastated with nothing left living there.

This had the side effect of killing all the high mages and destroying the major city of the empire. The emperor himself, Lucar, survived and moved House Azure to the Ursum region which was now an island, and the biggest on the continent. He formed the city of Lucar on the northern shores on the edge of the Inner Sea with his palace built high on a hill overlooking the sea so he would always be reminded of the huge price his people had paid for their advancement. The Rainbow Empire would never recover from this blow.

The Emperor Lucar, the man who had ordered the destruction of the Rainbow Empire, created a new capital on a promontory overlooking the newly created Inner Sea. He took the remaining five Noble Houses - the Azure, Snow, Jade, Rugby and Ebon houses - and created a new, smaller empire. Thus the Lucarcian Empire was born.

The Lucarcian Empire survived almost five hundred years to the day. The emperor banned the High Magic which had led to the creation of the Writhing Death and Lucarcia became a stable thriving place. The five Noble Houses looked after the main areas in the newly split continent. The ruling Azure House controlled the Spine of Ursum. The Ebon House controlled the Tail. The Ruby House controlled the Head. Manabas was under the control of House Snow and Ibini in the north east fell under the control of the Jade House.
The Empire of Lucarcia continued on, with each emperor ruling with a powerful hand. The technologies which the Rainbow Empire had discovered were slowly lost and the powerful magic which the previous empire had come to wield slowly dwindled - with the study of arcane lore banned no one was able or willing to keep these things maintained as they had been. The Empire of Lucarcia, though stable and safe, slowly diminished.

three years ago

Emperor Jovious Azure II, was the last of the line of Lucar. He was able to trace his lineage back to the powerful and commanding emperor Lucar who controlled the High Mages and who had the power to force them to shatter the lands to end the Writhing Death. Emperor Jovious had no such power. By the end of his reign the empire was fractured and broken. Nearly all power bases in the empire, though paying lip service to the emperor, were independent and self controlled. Places such as the city state of Dun Laren had completely broken free of the yoke of the empire. When Emperor Jovious Azure II died, the Lucarcian Empire finally collapsed.

two years ago

Recently a daring corsair captured a suit of golden armour from a Guild ship in the Inner Sea. This armour was the fabled Armour of Lucar - the legendary armour of the first emperor. With the mystical powers that armour was rumoured to possess the corsair forged a fleet of like minded pirates and put them to a common purpose.
Meanwhile a minor noble son, Reynard Ferrand, son of the Earl of Providential, was taken prisoner and made a slave on board a former Guild ship whose captain had turned rogue. Escaping captivity Reynard and friends took control of the ship, but found themselves in the debt of the mysterious Trade Lords.
Charged with recovering the golden armour, Reynard discovered the pirates were working for the Verdant Queen and striking at the interests of the major noble houses. Chasing them to a hidden base Reynard discovered that the Writhing Death appeared to be reforming on the cursed island of Granita, this time led by a huge intelligent aberration called Baku.
Reynard and his companions took the fight to the giant abberation and on the cursed island of Granita sent him back to the Void and closed the gate which had been opened. Thus was the curse of the Writhing Death foiled for a second time. Or so it appeared.

one years ago

Incredibly it appeared that the gate to the Void had been opened intentionally by agents of the Verdant Queen.